The present invention relates to a bicycle accessory container and, more particularly, to an accessory container or seat pack, constructed to be suspended from beneath a seat of a bicycle.
Interest in recreational and/or competitive cycling continues to increase. The consequence of this popularity of bicycle riding has been a growing presence of bicycle operators or riders or cyclists, of all ages, on public roads or off road trails. Further, as the recreation has grown, typical bicycle excursions or trips have lengthened in extent and, concomitantly a great variety of lighter, multi-geared and faster bicycles have entered the marketplace. Increasingly, as bicycle trips are planned for longer durations and distances, riders commonly prefer to carry several accessories with them during such excursions. Some such accessories can include car keys, identification, small tools, money, sunscreen, electronic devices such as cell phones and the like, etc. Many riders wear clothing that does not include pockets or other containers for carrying such items. Even when wearing clothes with pockets, operating a bicycle with such articles disposed in a pocket can be both a nuisance and/or painful. Accordingly, many riders prefer to have an accessory carrying device that can be supported by the bicycle rather than carried on the rider. One such device is a seat pack.
A seat pack is a container constructed to be suspended or otherwise supported by the seat of bicycle. Positioning, the accessory container near the seat of the bicycle ensures that a rider can access the accessories even during operation of the bicycle. Some seat packs are constructed to be permanently secured to particular bicycle whereas others are constructed to be removably secured thereto. Those seat packs that are constructed to be removable secured to a bicycle generally include a mating structure wherein one part is permanently secured to a particular bicycle and a pack part removably engages the mating structure. Although such systems allow the pack to the removed from the bicycle relatively easily, such systems are not without their drawbacks.
Many seat packs are provided as a two part system, the pack itself and a support bracket. The bracket is mechanically fixed to a seat and the pack removable engages the bracket. Such systems generally require a bracket that is specific to a seat construction and the use of multiple mechanical connectors to secure the bracket to a respective seat. Although such systems provide a removable pack, use of the pack is limited to the bicycle having the bracket attached thereto. Alternatively, the rider must transport the tools necessary to transfer the bracket from one bicycle to another. Furthermore, loss, theft, or damage to either of the pack or the bracket renders the other part of the system virtually useless.
Another drawback of such systems is the relatively complex construction of the connection mechanism configured to allow the removable engagement of the seat pack with the underlying bracket. Commonly, a snap fit connection or otherwise movable members are provided that interact to secure the pack to the bracket. Such systems generally include deformable tabs and/or spring biased members that are constructed to cooperate with mating structures formed on the alternate member of the system. Such configurations complicate the construction of the seat pack system and are also suspect to failure. Generally, if any portion of the interface structure between the pack and the bracket becomes damaged and/or worn, the seat pack system in rendered unreliable and/or unusable.
The riding environment can also impact the life cycle of the seat pack system. Riders who venture from paved surfaces are commonly subjected to more jarring or impact forces than riders who remain on paved surfaces. These forces are translated to the bicycle and any of the accessories and/or accessory mounting systems secured thereto. An accessory containing system such as a seat pack must be constructed to withstand such operating conditions. Furthermore, the means of connecting a seat pack to the bicycle must also be able to withstand the forces associated with extended rides over rough terrain so as to avoid the seat pack from becoming unintentionally detached from the seat.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that there exists a need for an improved seat pack system that is easy to use, is engageable with a variety of bicycle seat configurations, is constructed to be quickly and efficiently used with different bicycles, is robust and simple to use, and cost effective to manufacture.